Recently there has been a lot of talk and worry about what is going
to happen to the health insurance marketplace and the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Here
is some information about what we currently know and a little about what we
don’t know regarding the ACA.

Open enrollment will continue
through January 31, 2017. There will be no changes during this open
enrollment period, and because insurance plans are considered
contracts, plans should remain as they are now through 2017 (for one
year). If you enroll by December 15, 2016, you can start receiving
coverage on January 1, 2017.

We cannot speculate on
politics but we do know that President-elect Trump has indicated a
desire to “repeal and replace” the ACA. At this point, nobody
knows what the replacement will look like. We also know that
Governor-elect Greitens does not favor expanding Medicaid in
Missouri.

Typically, repeal efforts
have a transition period so it is unlikely that the ACA will change
overnight even if it is repealed. If the ACA is repealed, it will
not be a quick or simple process because it is a set of
interconnected pieces touching on different parts of government. For
now, the ACA remains the law of the land and change could take
months or even years. Any predictions being made at this point are
pure speculation. Nobody knows what will happen or how it will play
out.

Some of the information being shared through various media
sources may be speculation, so it is important to get the facts from
a well-informed source. As a nonpartisan entity, University of
Missouri Extension provides information to help Missouri
residents make informed health insurance decisions. We can also help
you get in touch with a Certified Application Counselor or an ACA
Navigator. For more information, visit our
Health Insurance Education Initiative website
or contact your
local University of Missouri Extension office.